Beef Salad Country Style
Sauté ½ cup diced salt pork in pork fat until golden brown. Drain and cool. In a salad bowl combine ½ cup vinaigrette sauce (see October, 1952), ½ cup lukewarm chicken stock, 1 tablespoon mixed finely chopped paisley. chervil, and tarragon. 1 teaspoon chopped chives, ½ teaspoon salt, and a little freshly ground pepper. Add about! pound of leftover cooked beef. cut into small dice or thinly sliced, 1 cup freshly cooked warm rice, and the sautéed saltpork dice and toss gently. Arrange around the edge of the bowl 3 tomatoes, peeled and thinly sliced, and 2 hard-cooked eggs, sliced or quartered.
Brown Stock
Arrange 4 pounds of beef and veal bones, cut into rather small pieces, in a shallow roasting pan and sprinkle the bones with 1 large carrot and 2 onions, both sliced. Bake the bones in a hot oven (400° F.) for about 35 to 40 minutes. or until they are a good dark brown color. Transfer the bones to a soup kettle, add 3 quarts cold water, ½ tablespoon salt, and a fagot of 3 stalks of celery, 4 sprigs of parsley, a little chyme, and a small piece of bay leaf. Bring the water to a boil, skim thoroughly, and continue to cook very slowly for about 4 hours, or until the liquid is reduced to about 2 quarts. Remove the bones and strain the stock through fine cheesecloth. Coo! and store in the refrigerator until needed. Discard the fat and use the stock for sauces or make it into soup by cooking it with chopped vegetables, barley, or other soup garnishes, or use it as the base for French onion soup.
In using leftover fish one must bevery careful to keep the fish in pieces large enough to pick up on a fork. Mixing and stirring fragile cooked fish into a Sauce is sure to break and mash it. We always like to combine sauce and fish in layers: first some of the sauce, then a layer of fish, and then the remaining sauce, so the fish retains its identity. It is very important for a leftover fish dish to be served piping hot, not so simple as it may seem to achieve, since the fish must, for safety's sake, be kept refrigerated until the last moment. To warm the fish, put two tablespoons of water and one of butter in a shallow pan. Heat the fish very slowly in this until the water has cooked away. The Steam will heat the fish without toughening it, and the butter will keep the flesh moist and juicy. Naturally, the skin and bones of the fish must be carefully removed and discarded, and the meat must be removed from leftover cooked shellfish before these dishes can be prepared.
Creamed Fish au Gratin
Cut 1 ½ pounds of cooked fish into pieces. Put 2 tablespoons water, 1 tablespoon butter, and a little salt in a shallow pan, add the fish, and cook over low licit until the water is Cooked away. Prepare 2 ½ cups duchesse potatoes (see March, 1952.) and 2 cups Mornay sauce (see March, 1952). Make a border of the duchesse potatoes around a flat ovenproof serving dish, using a pastry bag. Spread 1 cup of the Mornay sauce in the center of the dish, put the reheated fish on the sauce, and cover the fish with the remaining sauce. Sprinkle the sauce with grated Parmesan cheese and a little melted butter. Brush the potatoes with melted butter and brown in a hot oven (450° F.) or under the broiler flume.
Coquilles of Fish
Cut 1 ½ pounds of leftover cooked fish or shellfish into pieces. Put 2 tablespoons water, 1 tablespoon butter, and a little salt in a shallow pan. add the fish, and cook over low heat until the water is cooked away. Prepare 2 ½ to 3 cups duchess potatoes (see March. 1952) and 2 cups white wine sauce for fish (see March, 1952). Make a border of the potatoes around the edge of scallop shells and put 2 tablespoons of the sauce in the center of each. Divide the fish among the shells and cover with the remaining sauce. Sprinkle the coquilles with a little melted butter and cook in a hot oven (450° F.) for 5 to 6 minutes.
Another method of preparing the coquilles of fish is to use the recipe for creamed fish au gratin, arranging the fish and same in individual scallop shells.
Deviled Fish
Cut 1 ½ pounds of leftover cooked fish or shellfish into pieces. Put 2 tablespoons water. 1 tablespoon butter, and a little salt in a shallow pan. add the fish, and cook over low heat until the water is cooked away. Prepare 2 cups Mornay sauce (see March, 1952). In a saucepan melt 2 tablespoons butter, add 1 ½ teaspoons English mustard, and stir in 1 ½ cups of the sauce, Combine the sauce and the fish and season with salt and pepper. Pill scallop shells with the mixture. Fold 2 tablespoons whipped cream into the remaining ½ cup of Mornay sauce, spread it over the fish in the shells, and sprinkle with grated Par mesan cheese. Brown in a hot oven (450° F.) or under the broiler flamè.
Kedgeree
Cut into pieces 1 pound or more of leftover fish such as salmon, cod, haddock, or halibut. Put 2 tablespoons water, 1 tablespoon butter, and a little salt in a shallow pan, add the fish, and cook over low heat until the water is cooked away. Prepare rice pilaf as follows: In a saucepan melt 2 tablespoons butter, add 2 tablespoons finely chopped onion, and cook until soft but not brown. Add 1 cup rice, mix well and add 2 cups boiling water and a little salt. Cover the saucepan tightly and cook the rice over low heat for 20 to 25 minutes, or until the rice has absorbed all the water. Turn the rice into a hot pan, add 1 tablespoon butter, and toss gently with a fork without crushing the grains of rice. Mix 1 tablespoon curry powder into 4 cups béchamel sauce (see March, 1952). Add the fish and 2 hard-cooked eggs, chopped, and mix lightly. Spread half the rice in a hot serving dish and cover with half the fish mixture. Put the remaining rice over the fish and top with the remaining fish. Sprinkle with 2 hard-cooked egg yolks pressed through a sieve.
Pinterest
